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Song you wondered how they they ever got played on Top 40 radio

ted chittenden said:
Interesting story about "Isn't She Lovely." If you look at the KRIZ chart for the week of February 26, 1977, the #1 song listed is "Isn't She Lovely/I Wish," by Stevie Wonder. And that is not the only ARSA chart where I've seen the two songs linked together.
Click to expand...

They were charting the two songs they were playing at the same time, that's all. Both from "Songs in the Key of Life", which was red-hot at the time.

Here's the KFRC edit for you and @TexasTom :

19770128 KFRC Isn't She Lovely Edit.mp3

drive.google.com drive.google.com


It's a Google Drive file---don't be alarmed if it takes a few seconds after you press "play" to start. These things are laggy.
 
michael hagerty said:
They were charting the two songs they were playing at the same time, that's all. Both from "Songs in the Key of Life", which was red-hot at the time.

Here's the KFRC edit for you and @TexasTom :

19770128 KFRC Isn't She Lovely Edit.mp3

drive.google.com drive.google.com


It's a Google Drive file---don't be alarmed if it takes a few seconds after you press "play" to start. These things are laggy.
Click to expand...

You are correct. Below is a link to the long version on Youtube as provided by AnotherProf.


If you click on the link, and click on the ...More button, you will find three additional links to different shorter versions of the song. Version Three is, I believe, the version that appears on Stevie's "The Definitive Collection," that was issued in 2003 on CD. I have not checked to verify if Version 2 (no baby in the intro with cold ending) is the same as the version that KFRC played.

With regard to the Google drive MP3, I actually did have to press the enter key once to get it to play but the song definitely did play. Thanks for forwarding it along.
 
ted chittenden said:
You are correct. Below is a link to the long version on Youtube as provided by AnotherProf.


If you click on the link, and click on the ...More button, you will find three additional links to different shorter versions of the song. Version Three is, I believe, the version that appears on Stevie's "The Definitive Collection," that was issued in 2003 on CD. I have not checked to verify if Version 2 (no baby in the intro with cold ending) is the same as the version that KFRC played.

With regard to the Google drive MP3, I actually did have to press the enter key once to get it to play but the song definitely did play. Thanks for forwarding it along.
Click to expand...

KFRC’s was an in-house custom edit. Again, Motown made it easy by putting the instrumental track (without the baby sounds) on the flip of the radio-only single.

I suspect that was their intention…allowing them to get around Stevie’s refusal, knowing that stations would do that.
 
radiofan2023 said:
I never knew "Isn't She Lovely" had a crying baby in it until now, every time I've heard it was an edited version on the radio.
Click to expand...
Are you too young to have heard it as a current, or even as an oldie when oldies stations started playing '70s titles? I don't recall hearing the baby-less version until the 2000s.
 
CTListener said:
Are you too young to have heard it as a current, or even as an oldie when oldies stations started playing '70s titles? I don't recall hearing the baby-less version until the 2000s.
Click to expand...
I’ve heard it as an oldie, but never with the baby crying intro. I’m not a fan of babies or kids singing in songs.
 
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KilowattKat said:
I like the Helen Reddy tune, 'You And Me Against The World', but did we really need the little girl at the end. The song is already enough of a tearjerker! 😭
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The child on "You and Me Against the World," was, if I remember correctly, the child of one of Helen Reddy's neighbors. And the child (I can't remember now if it was a boy or a girl) appears at both the song's beginning ("Tell me again Mommy,") and the song's end ("I Love You Mommy.") Helen Reddy would say in later interviews that the song's message was intended for her then-husband, Jeff.
 
What amazes me is that such a song would make it into the Top 10, which even by 1961 standards is rather incredible!

There's also a Bobby Vinton number (which, surprisingly, made it to #33), "Dick And Jane", from his album Melodies of Love which features a child reciting some of the lyrics (including the first verse):

I might add that it's quite a tearjerker, so keep the Kleenex handy :p.

c
 
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cc333 said:
What amazes me is that such a song would make it into the Top 10, which even by 1961 standards is rather incredible!

There's also a Bobby Vinton number (which, surprisingly, made it to #33), "Dick And Jane", from his album Melodies of Love which features a child reciting some of the lyrics (including the first verse):

I might add that it's quite a tearjerker, so keep the Kleenex handy :p.

c
Click to expand...

While "Dick and Jane," was listed as part of a double-sided hit in Cashbox and a few local station surveys, the fact is that most radio stations and, for that matter, American Top 40, played the song's flip side, an updated version of "Polbarrel Polka."
 


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